Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran
3 PhD candidate of geography and Urban planning, University of Tabriz-Jolfa pardis, Iran
Abstract
Urban streets are dynamic spaces with a sense of movement, which are designed for use by pedestrians and riders, or sometimes only on foot. These spaces often do not respond properly to the needs of the people who use them, and people look at the street as a path just for riding. The purpose of this research is to fully and comprehensively identify the effective indicators in improving the quality of city streets. This research is practical in terms of purpose and in terms of method, using the Delphi technique and the method of structural equations. By using documentary and library methods, opinions and views of experts have been summarized and presented in the form of default indicators. In the first stage, the statistical population of the research was considered to be 20 experts in the field under study. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the initial indicators were analyzed in several stages using the fuzzy Delphi technique, and the final indicators were measured for normality using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In order to finally confirm the indicators extracted from the first stage, confirmatory factor analysis method was used to create a structural equation model. In this section, due to the unknown statistical population, using Cochran's formula, the size of the statistical population was considered to be 384 normal people. Finally, using Friedman's test, the indicators were ranked to determine the effectiveness of each one. The results of the findings are a complete identification of the effective indicators identified in improving the quality of Shahid Beheshti Street in Karaj.
Keywords: Urban Streets, Street Quality, Effective Indicators, Shahid Beheshti Street, Kara.
Introduction
Cities are the most important and complete form of human settlement, the most important and greatest manifestation of the attitudes, values and social conditions of their inhabitants. Shahid Beheshti Karaj Street is also facing similar problems as one of the important streets of the city, which is the backbone of the city and the entire city of Karaj has been formed and grown on its basis. The plans that have been considered for this main bone of the city over the years have turned the performance of the street as an urban space into a solution to the traffic problem and less attention has been paid to the environmental and especially human aspect during the periods of its formation so far. So, in this study, we have tried to improve and turn it into a lively and active space by fully identifying the influential indicators of the quality of the street of the martyr of the garden of Karaj. This study attempts to answer this question:
What are the effective indicators to improve the Environmental Quality of urban streets to create active and lively public spaces?
Literature Review
Various indicators and factors from the views of commentators to improve the quality of urban streets have been presented so far, and this section attempts to summarize them briefly in this area from 1960 to 2020: Jane Jacobs (1961), consideration of appropriate activities before attention to the visual order of the environment/ mixed use / attention to the street element/ permeability and accessibility/ social mixing/ flexibility. Mazin Ghazi, Radi Abbas (2019); residential commercial streets (livability in the promotion of public spaces, especially Sustainable Streets). Fatemi and Tabibiyan (2019) emphasis on the social behavior of citizens, functional components of direct impact on the rehabilitation of public spaces, the possibility of selecting diverse behaviors.
Methodology
This research is practical in terms of purpose. The research method in the first phase, using the Delphi phase fan to determine the initial indicators effectively, has been used to use an interview method for 20 experts and experts, students and professors in the field of urban planning and urban design and planning. In the second phase of the study, the CFA method was used to determine the research model using AMOS software for 384 ordinary people (statistical community) using the questionnaire method. Given that the current study does not specify the volume of the statistical community of residents, employees and users of Shahid bahshti Karaj Street, the Cochran formula is used to calculate the sample volume for performing a confirmation factor analysis (CFA).
Results and Discussion
According to the information obtained from the questionnaire, more than half of the respondents are over 40 years old. The questionnaire shows that all the people present in the study have at least a bachelor's degree, and half of them have a master's degree, which indicates the scientific and specialized level of the people participating in the research. After collecting the first round of questionnaires, the difference between the opinions of experts and the average of their opinions was sent to them. They were then asked to give their opinion again. After collecting the fourth-round questionnaires and performing the calculations, the high consensus of experts on the criteria was determined. Finally, the number of research indicators equal to the Delphi phase method was estimated at 61.
The results of the Kolmogorov – Smirnov test analysis on each of the dependent and independent variables were examined. The results show the normality of independent variables (physical, spatial, environmental, social, economic, cultural, historical, health, monitoring, sensory richness and comfort).
The results of the factor analysis confirming the research variables are given by AMOS software for the variables. The statistical community for the aforementioned analysis is estimated at 384 people, using the Cochran formula, due to its anonymity. According to the results, the factor loads of all indicators were higher than 3/0 and also the meaningful coefficients of the indicators were higher than 96/1, which indicates that all of them have a meaningful relationship with the component under study (physical, spatial, environmental, social, economic, cultural, historical, health, monitoring, sensory richness and comfort). The meaningful level of all indicators was also at the 99% meaningful level. Given that the kronbach Alpha numbers of all components, the composite base (internal compatibility) and AVE are all located in the corresponding range (Alpha>0.7) (physical 0.964, spatial 0.967, environmental 0.942, social 0.931, economic 0.893, cultural 0.802, historical 0.826, health 0.816, monitoring 0.752, sensory richness 0.780 and comfort 0.792), it can be confirmed the suitability of the foundational and confrontational state of the research model.
At the end of the study, using the Friedman test analysis method to rank the indicators and components and dimensions mentioned in this test in the amount of statistics of 384 people in the form of a coefficient of two 316.16 and a degree of freedom 60 for indicators, a meaningful level of 0.000 was obtained, which means that the results of the Friedman test with (Sig=0.0.000) a meaningful level of less than 0.05, and as a result of the test, it is meaningful and the difference there are meaningful between indicators.
In planning to improve the quality of urban streets, which is the main focus of the research, it is necessary to consider the needs and measures that increase street users. The study examines the comprehensive and complete factors that contribute to the quality improvement of Shahid Beheshti Karaj street. These indicators are divided into two environmental and human groups and analyzed.
Conclusion
The results of the research show that there is a high level of meaningfulness of street quality with environmental factors, as well as street quality with human factors. The indicators of transhuman scale and visual order, materials and facade materials, the necessary points were not obtained and removed according to the analyses carried out; in contrast to the indicators of sustainable environmental quality, mixing and cultural diversity, taking into account Indigenous and regional links and listening to the past Voice, are among the indicators that were later added to the set of indicators according to the results of Delphi phase and confirmation factor analysis (CFA). In this study, we tried to complete the analysis of effective indicators in accordance with the theoretical foundations presented and analyze them using existing techniques such as, Delphi fuzzy technique, confirmation factor analysis (CFA) with Amos software and Friedman ranking test, these variables are categorized and ranked, and finally the indicators and final model of the research are presented to improve the quality of urban streets to create a lively and active environment. In the above research, it is proposed to analyze and examine these streets to improve the Environmental Quality of urban streets such as Shahid bahshti Karaj Street to turn the space into a lively and active environment, using the final indicators determined, and after determining the cases of street defects, tips should be provided for applying the above variables.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)